The things we’ve been able to achieve since Badgerys Creek was first raised as an airport site

IT IS the airport that has been talked about for almost half a century.

Badgerys Creek was first raised as a potential site for a second Sydney airport in 1969, at which point Prime Minister Tony Abbott was just 12 years old, Opposition leader Bill Shorten was two, US President Barack Obama eight, and Apple co-founder the late Steve Jobs 14.

Steve Jobs was a young kid with big dreams in 1969.Source:AP

The Commonwealth set up a committee in January 1969 to advise the Government on the airport needs of Sydney. The committee was asked to consider 11 sites, including Badgerys Creek.

The Hawke government announced in February 1986 that Badgerys Creek was to be the site for the second airport and started acquisition of land. Which of course led to nothing.

Finally! 45 years after first discussions, Badgerys Creek airport has been confirmed.Source:News Corp Australia

Until now. Mr Abbott has officially announced Badgerys Creek will finally get off the ground as Sydney’s second airport, with construction tipped to begin in two years time.

The Beatles were finishing up in 1969.Source:Supplied

1969 was a long time ago — man walked on the moon on July 21, 1969, and it was the same year The Beatles had their final recording session.

These are the things that we’ve been able to achieve in the time it’s taken governments to make a decision on the airport.

John Gorton was prime minister in 1969 when Badgerys Creek was first talked about.Source:News Limited

AUSTRALIA HAS HAD 10 PRIME MINISTERS

John Gorton was PM in 1969. He was followed by William McMahon, Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, our first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard (then back to Rudd) and Tony Abbott.

Thank goodness upgrades to our travel didn’t take as long as the airport.Source:Supplied

TRAVEL GOT A WHOLE LOT NICER

There was no such thing as business class, with Qantas claiming to have invented it in 1979.

The Concorde supersonic plane took to the skies for the first time in 1969, and in February of that same year the first flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, which remains one of the world’s most popular planes, took place.

Berliners sing and dance on top of the Berlin Wall to celebrate the opening of East-WestSource:AP

COUNTRIES WERE ESTABLISHED

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 produced 15 new countries including Estonia, Ukraine and Russia.

Yugoslavia also dissolved into five independent countries in the 1990s and the Berlin Wall fell in that same year, reuniting East and West Germany into one country.

Closer to home, and more recently, East Timor joined the ranks of new countries founded when it was internationally recognised as an independent nation on May 20, 2002.

So many wars in so many years.Source:AFP

THERE WERE MANY WARS

Australian troops were involved in a number of wars including Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Barack Obama was eight when the idea of a second airport for Sydney was first rSource:AP

THERE WERE EIGHT US PRESIDENTS

Richard Nixon was President from 1969-74 and was followed by Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and the first African American in the top job Barack Obama.

Since 1969 technology has evolved at a breakneck pace with key industries being totally transformed.

The hefty beginnings of the mobile phone arrived in 1973 as Motorola demonstrated the first consumer phone (which weighed 1.1kg and took 10 hours to recharge).

Bill Gates started this a long time ago.Source:News Limited

The tech scene surged over the next few years as Microsoft was founded (1974), the world’s first commercial laptop was released by IBM (1975) and a little-known company called Apple started up (1976).

As music changed its tune over the decades so did the technology that helped us enjoy it. In 1979 the Sony Walkman delivered proper portable audio and the CD first hit the labs. The first MP3 players followed in 1997 and the most famous music player of modern day, the Apple iPod, dazzling fans in 2001.

45 years is a long time when it comes to technology.Source:AFP

Remember the Sony Walkman? Neither do we.Source:News Limited

And possibly the greatest thing to arrive since 1969 is the World Wide Web. Coming from rudimentary roots as a communication tool for scientists at CERN in 1990, the first web page was recorded in 1991.

If only Samuel L. Jackson could have sorted it out.Source:Supplied

CELEBRITIES GOT BUSY

Samuel L. Jackson managed to star in 51 movies, which have grossed more than $9 billion worldwide. U2 won 22 Grammys, Rove took home 10 Logies, Meryl Streep was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and Sergeant Tom Croydon and his Blue Heelers crew managed to catch and lock up more than 400 criminals that swept through Mt. Thomas.